‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Episode 7 & 8 Recap

Kimmy Goes to a Party!

S 1, Ep 7

We are finally introduced to Mr. Julian Vorhees who we all believed (at least I did) would never pop his adulterous wife-collecting head this season. I also assumed that if he were ever featured in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt he’d have a cloud of smoke covering his face at all times, masking the billionaire husband of an insecure Jacqueline. Well, I was wrong, for Jacqueline finally confronts her husband, in the flesh, on his airplane. She accuses him of infidelity and avoiding her (which I wouldn’t blame him for). He firmly dismisses all of this, insisting he’s not cheating, but that’s not good enough for our poor Jacqueline.

Back home, Jacqueline still suspects her husband is lying, and when her and Kimmy listen on a phone call he’s making to a woman in Japan, Jacqueline makes it her (and Kimmy’s, of course) mission to prove Julian is a good-for-nothing cheating bastard. A dinner party is then underway, where Jacqueline will call out her husband’s cheating and his mistress (who she knows will be at the party cause her referred her as _ on the phone) in front of all their fancy shmancy guest.

In the meantime, with the help of Tituss and his Cinderella DIY makeover, Kimmy is transformed into an elegant woman for the party. She catches the eye of a good lucking British accent speaking bachelor Logan who believes Kimmy is also wealthy and elite, because….Kimmy told him. Yep, its definitely a Cinderella story as Kimmy exaggerates a British accent and tries to add some wealth lingo to the conversation (“Oh, my assistant!”). Xan tries to call her out, which she ultimately does, but Logan, being an “okay” rich guy doesn’t mind that Kimmy is actually working at the party instead of attending it, and asks her out anyways. Awww……tears!

Meanwhile Tituss is singing at the party but is overshadowed by Kuko….the robot. Turns out Julian’s mistress is actually a robot his company will distributing after partnering with the Japanese company that made Kuko. Jacqueline is still green in envy as Kuko takes the spotlight, and teams up with s-whose been trying to impress a Broadway producer at the party-to get rid of Kuko. The plan backfires, and Jacqueline is called out by Julian for being crazy jealous. Tituss however did impress the producer, who doesn’t work for Broadway actually, but owns a musical horror bar/restaurant  on Broadway. Hey, a gig is a gig.

The episode ends with a revelation- Julian has been cheating on Jacqueline, but with their couples therapist. The big secret is revealed during a session, so Jacqueline now has ground to continue being crazy jealous. “Kimmy Goes to a Party!” turned out to be an episode of new subplots- now we have a gig for Tituss, a new love interest for Kimmy, and a failed marriage with real evidence of infidelity for Jacqueline. So will Jacqueline divorce her rich husband? Will Kimmy improve her British accent? And what character will Tituss be in this haunted house/bar? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.

 

 

 

Kimmy is Bad at Math!

S 1, Ep 8 

In “Kimmy is Bad at Math!”, Jacqueline re-thinks the divorce. Though to Kimmy the obvious solution for Jacqueline’s depression would be to divorce her horrible husband Julian; this doesn’t seem to be an option for Jacqueline. Without Julian, there would be no money-or not enough money, actually. She would only be getting 12 million from the settlement. Sigh…rich people.

As Jacqueline tries to add up the pros and cons that come with her divorcing the billionaire that’s maintained her rich lifestyle all these years, Kimmy is trying to add anything up. Failing horribly in the mathematical section for the prep GED study book, Kimmy recruits Dong as a study buddy. He’s working three jobs-one of them delivering Chinese food-but agrees to help Kimmy. Along the way, the two bond over movie locations in Central Park (Dong is look for the fountain from the hit show Six White Complainers), and Kimmy unknowingly creates a bit of a life triangle with Dong in the center. It’s obvious Dong has the hots for her, but Kimmy is still dating Logan the rich guys who has much less in common with Kimmy than Dong has with her. Dong is a Vietnamese immigrant that is just as clueless as Kimmy- they both share the same child-like humor and curiosity. Kimmy however doesn’t see Dong’s infatuation, ultimately putting Dong in a friend zone that would make even Duckie Dale cringe.

Meanwhile, Tituss who has been working at the _  as a werewolf, and finding it hard to believe he’s being treated better as a werewolf than as a black man. It’s a running joke that blends the line of race and poverty in Kimmy Schmidt. The jabs are cute, but after a while it comes off a tad insensitive and possibly insulting. Or completely truthful- you be the judge.

After much slouching and brooding, Jacqueline finally admits that the money isn’t the reason why she won’t get a divorce, it’s the fear of starting over, which is an area Kimmy is currently working on. With some helpful words from Kimmy, Jacqueline is convinced the divorce is the right thing to do, and falls through with the first steps of the legal process. Jacqueline is finally growing up.

This episode was both incredibly honest and possibly too much in regards to the race thing. Dong’s immigration antics seem realistic to me (having been born and raised in Los Angeles, that is), but it could also come across as racist, as well as Tituss’ black-werewolf comparison and Jacqueline’s Native American past which was lightly mentioned a few episodes back. That doesn’t mean they didn’t write all of this is out of good spirit- it just means it might not rub right with some people. However, Dong and Kimmy getting together makes more sense than her being with Logan, because Dong is super sweet and very good to Kimmy. They also have a lot in common, so it wouldn’t be so out-of-this-world if a Vietnamese immigrant got with a white girl. Just saying.

So, we are left with the following questions: Will Kimmy fall for Dong? And if she does, will she leave Logan the billionaire for Dong who makes pennies? Also, will Jacqueline change her mind again about the divorce? The love interests and moral compasses have come into play here people, so lets see where this will direct our hilarious heroes.